1337: Overwatch's D.Va tops most-played charts

Pr0 gam3r D.Va is the most-played Overwatch character at almost all levels of play, according to data released yesterday by game director Jeff Kaplan. To aid arguments about which characters are or aren’t balanced or popular at different skill levels, he dumped a big list of the most-played across all matchmaking tiers. Atop all but one bracket sits the Dorito-munching gremlin, with Mercy, Genji, and Roadhog well-represented at all levels of play too. My faker’s guide to being an Overwatch pr0 would say: play Winston, who’s only really common at the highest levels.Head to the Overwatch forums to see the ten most-played characters in the Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, and Grandmaster tiers as of March 1st, the start of Overwatch’s latest season.

Kaplan dumped the data in a discussion about “trickle-down meta”, a thread started by someone looking to assuage fears that Sombra’s buffs in the new season patch will see her swamping all levels of play. Though Kaplan’s data misses the effects of those Sombra buffs, it does show clear differences between low-end and high-end play.

A number of the heroes most popular at the highest skill levels don’t even show up in lower lists: Tracer, Winston, McCree, and Zenyatta. Conversely, Junkrat, Reinhardt, Ana, and Soldier: 76 all drop off towards the higher end.

Kaplan only lists the top ten at each level, to be clear, and Overwatch has 26 characters (with the 27th, Brigitte, still in public testing) so this isn’t the full picture. Someone not appearing on a list doesn’t mean they’re bad or not played at all. But I’m telling you, run a hand through your hair, smirk, and say “Oh, I main Winston” then lean back and bathe in the adoration from people who can never ever know you’re in Bronze tier.